Phytochemical & Pharmacological Investigation of Stems of Passiflora foetida

Aims: To carry out extraction, preliminary phytochemical analysis and invivo analgesic screening of extract of the stem of Passiflora foetida L. Methodology: Passiflora foetida L; Family: Passifloraceae, is an exotic fast-growing perennial and medicinal vine occurring in Germany, France and other European countries and USA and grown in different parts of India. Dried stems of Passiflora foetida L was coarsely powdered and maceration was done using Soxhlet apparatus. The ethanolic extract of stems of Passiflora foetida L was subjected to preliminary phytochemical tests. Then subjected to in vivo analgesic activity. Results: Phytochemical investigation of the stem of Passiflora foetida L preliminary test showed the presence of carbohydrates, glycosides, flavonoids and steroids. Acute toxicity study of ethanolic extract of stems of Passiflora foetida L was carried out and extracts were found to be safe up to 2000 mg/kg body weight. Pharmacological activities of stems of Passiflora foetida L was carried out from ethanolic extract. Conclusion: Phytochemical investigation of ethanolic extract of stems were carried out and Analgesic activity by tail flick method in rats and acetic acid induced writhing method in mice, showed statistically significant activity (P=.05) when compared to control. The ethanolic stem extract of Passiflora foetida L proved to have significant pain relieving action in a dose dependent manner.

Management of Root-knot Nematode Meloidogyne incognita on Mulberry with Passiflora foetida

Background: The root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita Chit wood infesting mulberry is economically important in silk industry as it affects the leaf yield both quantitatively and qualitatively which in turn affects the silkworm Bombyx mori L., growth and cocoon yield because its foliage is the sole food source of silkworm. Methods: Hence a pot experiment was conducted for the evaluation of efficacy of eco-friendly formulate like botanical extract from Passiflora foetida L., to manage nematode disease severity applied as soil amendment and aqueous leaf extract on nematode egg hatching. Result: After treatment, nematode infestation reduced significantly in terms of number of root knots/ g root weight and nematode egg masses / g root weight in mulberry plants and the treated plants showed better growth in shoot and root length compared to control plants. The aqueous extract of P. foetida showed maximum inhibition of egg hatchability with an increase in the concentration of plant extract.

Water stress in passion fruit cropping: an approach to its development

In places with water restrictions, there is the occurrence of water stress, which compromises the entire cycle of passion fruit crop, causing damage to the vegetative and reproductive phase of the plant. Therefore, the objective of this work was to assess water stress in the passion fruit crop through an approach to its development. An experiment was carried out in May 2019 at São Paulo State University (Unesp), College of Agricultural and Technological Sciences located in the municipality of Dracena, State of São Paulo. The experimental design was completely randomized (DIC), in a 3x3 factorial arrangement, in which three passion fruit species were used: Passiflora gibertii; Passiflora foetida, and Passiflora edulis, interacting with three irrigation intervals, namely: 4, 8, and 12 days, with four replications, totaling 36 plots. It was found that the a 12-day interruption in the irrigation affects the growth of seedlings of different species of passion fruit, and the species P. gibertii has a growth rate higher than P. edulis and P. foetida. The species P. edulis showed lower contents of chlorophylls A, B, and total in relation to P. gibertii and P. foetida.

Comparative Study of Ovule Development between Wild (Passiflora foetida L.) and Cultivated (P. edulis Sims) Species of Passiflora L. Provide Insights into Its Differential Developmental Patterns

The ovules inside the ovary of a plant are the precursors of seeds and they are important for the perpetuation of the plants. The genus Passiflora L., produce fruits with numerous seeds and they have economic and medicinal value. The edible portion of the Passiflora are the seeds surrounded by pulp. Being the edible parts of a fruit, it is important to investigate the early development of ovules in Passiflora that lead to the formation of seeds after pollination. Wild relatives of the domesticated crops are increasingly being investigated for possible genetic resources that can be used for crop improvement programs. The present study was designed to investigate the comparative ovule development between a wild (Passiflora foetida L.) and a cultivated (Passiflora edulis Sims) species of Passiflora with an aim that it may provide important information about the common and diverging regulatory mechanisms during ovule development between the wild and the cultivated species. We also investigated the pollen morphology between the wild and cultivated species using light and scanning electron microscopy. Our results show that wild type P. foetida ovule growth is faster when compared with that of cultivated P. edulis. Furthermore, wild species harbour ovules of large size (0.14 mm2) but less in number (6) as compared to cultivated ones which show smaller size (0.05 mm2) of ovules but relatively more in number (21). The differences in ovary wall thickness were also stark between the two species. The ovary wall thickness was 0.10 mm in the wild type whereas it was 0.74 mm in cultivated species. Notable differences were also observed in diameter where the wild type (2.45 mm) reported smaller diameter than cultivated species (3.25 mm). We observed little difference in the pollen morphology between the two species.

Repellent Effectiveness of Permot Leaf Ethanol Extract (Passiflora Foetida Linn.) against Aedes Aegypti Adult Mosquitoes

Indonesia is one of the largest tropical countries in the world and various diseases can arise in the tropics which are caused by animals as vectors. An example of a vector that can carry diseases is a mosquito. Mosquitoes are insects that live side by side with humans buy act as vectors of disease. Mosquito Aedes aegypti is a type of mosquito that can carry the virus that causes Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. This research was conducted to determine the effectiveness of Permot leaf ethanol extract (Passiflora foetida L.) as an alternative repellent against adult mosquitoes Aedes aegypti. This research was conducted from October to December 2020 and used Permot leaf ethanol extract consisting of 3 cream concentrations, namely 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, negative control using cream without permot leaf ethanol extract and positive control using mosquito cream. The data of this study were tested using one way ANOVA to find the effectiveness rate and comparations of the each Permot leaf repellent extract. This study proven that the permot leaf ethanol extract is effective as a repellent for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

Diversity of climbers in Vallanadu Black-buck Sanctuary, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu

In climbers the stems are weak and these plants need various climbing devices in order to support growth and development. The climbers are predominately angiosperms. The present study chiefly focuses on diversity of climbers in Vallanadu Black-buck Sanctuary. The present study recorded 28 herbaceous climbers and 14 lianas from the scrub forest of Vallanadu Black-buck sanctuary. In dicotyledons, 15 families containing 33 genera and 40 species were recorded. In monocotyledons, 2 families containing 1 genus and 1species each were recorded. The present study reported invasive species such as Ipomoea obscura, Ipomoea pes-tigridis, Clitoria ternatea and Passiflora foetida. The present study recorded 24 medicinal climbers. Conservation of climber and lianas is the need of the hour and climbers provide valuable germplasm as medicinal plants for the benefit of humankind.